Liver met

chris37
chris37 Member Posts: 18
edited March 2014 in Anal Cancer #1
Hi everyone,
Im new to this and was wondering if anyone could provide any information. I had an abdominal ultrasound in which the tech found areas on my liver and said that I needed an MRI to get a clearer picture of the liver. When I had the MRI done (and contrast was used) report came back that I have in numberable nodules on both left and right lobes and was said to be met but from an unknown primary. I have had several blood test done and the only thing out of normal range is my liver enzymes which are all elevated. I have also had tumor marker tests done I think AFP, Ca 19-9, CA 125 CEA and have all also come back in the normal range. I now have an onco Dr. and he seems puzzled as well and Im scheduled for a PET scan on 4/13 and they are wanting to also do liver biopsy. But they want to wait and see if they can find a better place to biopsy from. ( I guess they are looking for a primary) I know that the colon etc.. seems to be the area that would spread to the liver if cancer is indeed in my liver and secondary. I guess what doesnt make sense to me is if cancer has spread to my liver I should be in like stage 3 or above and I would think that their would be some other flag in my blood work to indicate that. Anyways all of you guys seem great and very helpful with information. If anyone has experience anything similar please let me know. Im a 37 year old mother of 2 girls and my husband. (like a child, I always include him in the child count) Its the not knowing that has been really hard and trying to figure out what is going on.

Thank You
Chris

Comments

  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    #2
    Hi Chris
    I'm sorry that I can't give you any insight on your situation but it does sound puzzling. If there is a primary tumor somewhere, hopefully your PET scan will show it. You did not mention any troubling symptoms that you have experienced. Rectal bleeding could be an indication of colon, rectal or anal cancer, all of which can metastasize to the liver. I hope the scan will yield some answers for you. Please let us know what you find out. I wish you the best in your search for an accurate diagnosis.
  • chris37
    chris37 Member Posts: 18
    #3
    mp327 said:

    Hi Chris
    I'm sorry that I can't give you any insight on your situation but it does sound puzzling. If there is a primary tumor somewhere, hopefully your PET scan will show it. You did not mention any troubling symptoms that you have experienced. Rectal bleeding could be an indication of colon, rectal or anal cancer, all of which can metastasize to the liver. I hope the scan will yield some answers for you. Please let us know what you find out. I wish you the best in your search for an accurate diagnosis.

    Liver met
    I have not had any bleeding how ever I do have a hemmroid and my brother was diagnosed with Chrones a couple of years ago. I have been very tired lately and seem to get full after eating small amounts of food. And my left side in the middle bothers me when eating and is more pronounced a couple of hours after eating. And I have had a low grade fever around 100. I was told about a month ago when all this started after my first round of blood work that I had CMV virus. But the left side was puzzling to the doctor which sent me for the ultrasound.
    I have my normal yearly gyn vists and last one was in Oct 2009 and everyhting was good. I know this has been a crazy mess from being told that I have cancer and not understanding fully whats going on. It was also noted on my MRI a question about me ever having melanoma. Which I did have a mole removed about 2 1/2 years ago that came back abnormal but not cancerous. I have not noticed and skin lessions or anything like that. My onco Doc thought that they had made the comment because of my age and the fact that all my other organs looked ok. Im hoping for the best but trying to be prepared for the worst. I cant believe that the MRI DR that reviewed my tests would put cancer on the report if he didnt feel like it was really cancer. But I guess everyone makes mistakes. My onco Dr reviewed the pictures and all he could say was their were areas on my left and right lobes that need investigating. Thank You so much for your support. I will keep you posted on what they find. Everyone seems really nice here and seems like a wonderful support group.
  • z
    z Member Posts: 1,414 Member
    #4
    chris37 said:

    Liver met
    I have not had any bleeding how ever I do have a hemmroid and my brother was diagnosed with Chrones a couple of years ago. I have been very tired lately and seem to get full after eating small amounts of food. And my left side in the middle bothers me when eating and is more pronounced a couple of hours after eating. And I have had a low grade fever around 100. I was told about a month ago when all this started after my first round of blood work that I had CMV virus. But the left side was puzzling to the doctor which sent me for the ultrasound.
    I have my normal yearly gyn vists and last one was in Oct 2009 and everyhting was good. I know this has been a crazy mess from being told that I have cancer and not understanding fully whats going on. It was also noted on my MRI a question about me ever having melanoma. Which I did have a mole removed about 2 1/2 years ago that came back abnormal but not cancerous. I have not noticed and skin lessions or anything like that. My onco Doc thought that they had made the comment because of my age and the fact that all my other organs looked ok. Im hoping for the best but trying to be prepared for the worst. I cant believe that the MRI DR that reviewed my tests would put cancer on the report if he didnt feel like it was really cancer. But I guess everyone makes mistakes. My onco Dr reviewed the pictures and all he could say was their were areas on my left and right lobes that need investigating. Thank You so much for your support. I will keep you posted on what they find. Everyone seems really nice here and seems like a wonderful support group.

    Chris37
    Hi Chris,

    I am sorry you have to be here. I am sorry you have to wait for your pet, its the not knowing and waiting that is stressful. I know that people can have cysts on the liver that are benign. You might want to check out the correctol discussion board. Theres a lot of patients with mets to the liver. They can give so much information. If you post just like you posted here, they will respond to you. I pray for the best outcome of your pet-ct. And just remember that if indeed they are mets to the liver, they can be treated, theres a lot of survivors on the correctol discussion board.
    I wish you well. Lori
  • chris37
    chris37 Member Posts: 18
    #5
    z said:

    Chris37
    Hi Chris,

    I am sorry you have to be here. I am sorry you have to wait for your pet, its the not knowing and waiting that is stressful. I know that people can have cysts on the liver that are benign. You might want to check out the correctol discussion board. Theres a lot of patients with mets to the liver. They can give so much information. If you post just like you posted here, they will respond to you. I pray for the best outcome of your pet-ct. And just remember that if indeed they are mets to the liver, they can be treated, theres a lot of survivors on the correctol discussion board.
    I wish you well. Lori

    Liver Met
    Hey Lori ,
    Thank you for the information. I will check with them to see if anyone has beem through a similiar situation. You guys have been wonderful.



    Chris
  • SueRelays
    SueRelays Member Posts: 485
    #6
    Hi Chris
    I am also sorry for
    Hi Chris

    I am also sorry for your news. I just had a liver resection 8 weeks ago, as an anal cancer spread to my liver two years after first diagnosed.....which they said was HIGHLY unlikely to ever happen. I seem to always be the exception. I was surprsied as well since I have follow up appts every six months, that NOTHING showed up to flag this sooner. I did have a pain in my side for about 9 months, that an ultrasound, bone scan, etc did not pick up anything unusual. A check up on my lungs ( i also had a random lung cancer and had 1/5 of my lung removed, non smoker...another rarity, although not as much any more)....and they said I had a couple spots that had "changed". My liver always showed marks on it, since the first PET scan, but they were not concerned....again, as they said anal cancer rarely spreads to the liver. They ( the docs) also had a hard time with exactly where my anal cancer was. Took about 2 months to decide where/how to treat. It is EXTREMELY frustrating, and I wish there were some magic words for you. I am not as young as you, but at 51, with 3 daughters that rely heavily on me, I understand the stress and emotions you are going through.
    Hopefully they get this figured out, and start a plan for you. It is a relief once you actually know what/when, etc.
    Please keep us posted!!!
  • chris37
    chris37 Member Posts: 18
    #7
    SueRelays said:

    Hi Chris
    I am also sorry for
    Hi Chris

    I am also sorry for your news. I just had a liver resection 8 weeks ago, as an anal cancer spread to my liver two years after first diagnosed.....which they said was HIGHLY unlikely to ever happen. I seem to always be the exception. I was surprsied as well since I have follow up appts every six months, that NOTHING showed up to flag this sooner. I did have a pain in my side for about 9 months, that an ultrasound, bone scan, etc did not pick up anything unusual. A check up on my lungs ( i also had a random lung cancer and had 1/5 of my lung removed, non smoker...another rarity, although not as much any more)....and they said I had a couple spots that had "changed". My liver always showed marks on it, since the first PET scan, but they were not concerned....again, as they said anal cancer rarely spreads to the liver. They ( the docs) also had a hard time with exactly where my anal cancer was. Took about 2 months to decide where/how to treat. It is EXTREMELY frustrating, and I wish there were some magic words for you. I am not as young as you, but at 51, with 3 daughters that rely heavily on me, I understand the stress and emotions you are going through.
    Hopefully they get this figured out, and start a plan for you. It is a relief once you actually know what/when, etc.
    Please keep us posted!!!

    Thank You for the kind words
    I had a question the side pain that you had was it on the left or right?? I always get a puzzling look when I explain to the doctors that the discomfort is on the left side. Im hoping that when I do the Pet Scan next Tuesday that they will be able to figure out something. If not Im sure the biopsy will tell all which I dont know why they just dont go there first. I will keep you guys posted on what they find I think that information is key to pass along to others. As well as symptoms or lack of illness strike people in so many ways and its not always text book. Which is why I posted to the board I thought that maybe someone else had gone through something similiar and maybe I could help solve my problem. I have seen so much info on all the boards from differnt kinds of treatments and questions to be asking as well as support. Im also a non smoker and had worried about the lung area too since the MRI cant pick up lung pictures. Im assuming that the Pet being done from head to toe will check there as well. Thank you for replying to me its been great to hear from so many people.


    Chris
  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    #8
    chris37 said:

    Thank You for the kind words
    I had a question the side pain that you had was it on the left or right?? I always get a puzzling look when I explain to the doctors that the discomfort is on the left side. Im hoping that when I do the Pet Scan next Tuesday that they will be able to figure out something. If not Im sure the biopsy will tell all which I dont know why they just dont go there first. I will keep you guys posted on what they find I think that information is key to pass along to others. As well as symptoms or lack of illness strike people in so many ways and its not always text book. Which is why I posted to the board I thought that maybe someone else had gone through something similiar and maybe I could help solve my problem. I have seen so much info on all the boards from differnt kinds of treatments and questions to be asking as well as support. Im also a non smoker and had worried about the lung area too since the MRI cant pick up lung pictures. Im assuming that the Pet being done from head to toe will check there as well. Thank you for replying to me its been great to hear from so many people.


    Chris

    PET Scans
    Chris--

    I have a dear friend who is a radiologist and he says PET scans can show up so much more than a CT scan. Often times things not seen on a CT are picked up on a PET. I am passing this on to you because the PET scan will likely look at everything from your proximal thighs to the base of your brain, which includes the lungs and liver. I would think that if something is out there, the PET will pick it up. I do hope you get some answers soon so you can begin to go after anything that's there.
  • chris37
    chris37 Member Posts: 18
    #9
    mp327 said:

    PET Scans
    Chris--

    I have a dear friend who is a radiologist and he says PET scans can show up so much more than a CT scan. Often times things not seen on a CT are picked up on a PET. I am passing this on to you because the PET scan will likely look at everything from your proximal thighs to the base of your brain, which includes the lungs and liver. I would think that if something is out there, the PET will pick it up. I do hope you get some answers soon so you can begin to go after anything that's there.

    Information
    Hey,
    Thank You for the information. I will let you know how things turn out.
  • SueRelays
    SueRelays Member Posts: 485
    #10
    chris37 said:

    Thank You for the kind words
    I had a question the side pain that you had was it on the left or right?? I always get a puzzling look when I explain to the doctors that the discomfort is on the left side. Im hoping that when I do the Pet Scan next Tuesday that they will be able to figure out something. If not Im sure the biopsy will tell all which I dont know why they just dont go there first. I will keep you guys posted on what they find I think that information is key to pass along to others. As well as symptoms or lack of illness strike people in so many ways and its not always text book. Which is why I posted to the board I thought that maybe someone else had gone through something similiar and maybe I could help solve my problem. I have seen so much info on all the boards from differnt kinds of treatments and questions to be asking as well as support. Im also a non smoker and had worried about the lung area too since the MRI cant pick up lung pictures. Im assuming that the Pet being done from head to toe will check there as well. Thank you for replying to me its been great to hear from so many people.


    Chris

    My pain was on the right
    My pain was on the right side. It was a dull constant ache....sometimes enough though to keep me awake at night. So frustrating that no one had a clue what it could be. Made me feel like I was imagining it, but I knew better! So the right side of my liver was the side that was removed. Left side, thankfully was healthy!
    I questioned my oncologist as to why a CT and not a PET in December. He rambled off something...but then when they were operating, they found cancer in my abdmoninal wall as well. The PET scan probably would have picked that up. After reading these posts, I am going to insist on a follow up PET scan~~~

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